November 14th, 2017 - JDM CR-X Center Tail Light with a Decal -vs- an Emblem?

November 14th, 2017 - JDM CR-X Center Tail Light with a Decal -vs- an Emblem?

You're never too old to learn something new.

While preparing a video presentation to show with my car at the Show N Shine this year, I stumbled upon something I didn't know before. I was watching a video from the Honda Collection Hall where they took an EF7 around a small test-loop, presumably a routine occurrence to keep everything in working order, and they did a close-up of the rear tail light garnish. As some of you may know from reading this blog, I have a rather extensive 2nd gen CRX tail light collection, so I recognized the difference in this one right away.

Instead of the CR-X lettering being raised emblems on the center tail light, this one was a decal! You can see the outline of the edge of the decal around the letters. Things slowly began clicking into place. First, my "Project 88" CRX was an 88 model year ED9 built in 1987. According to the video, this CR-X in the Collection Hall was also built in 1987.

Screenshot of the Honda Collection Hall video on YouTube showing the decal where an emblem ought to be.

On my 88 CRX, the "Si" lettering on the rear triangle was a sticker. From what I've learned over the years, and after having spent 6 yars slinging Honda parts for a living, 1989 models and above it was an emblem in the triangle. When applied to the mystery of this newly discovered tail light, it would be logical to conclude that this could account for why some of the pre-facelift tail lights would have emblems and this CR-X from the Collection Hall would have a sticker.

Is it possible that this is a replacement sticker to 'restore' a damaged or deteriorated emblem? 
I don't think that's the case here, and here's why: Almost all CRX replacement decals sold on sites like eBay and the like aren't perfect replicas -- they never have the clear 'border' around the letters; what tipped me off to this being a decal instead of an emblem in the first place.

Is it possible that they demanded a border be used? Isn't it possible that restoring a museum-collection piece would be restored as closely as possible to the original condition?
The answer to both of those questions is obviously 'yes', but if it were the case here, then why would they have gone to that level of detail to order a border on a decal that replaced an emblem in the first place...? And that raises the question of why wouldn't they just get an emblem? Why wouldn't they order the replacement to the same specifications they have on file in their records?

On top of that, less than 5 days after I discovered this new tail light, one came up for sale on Yahoo Japan and I bought it. The seller said it came off of an EF7-1010xxx VIN chassis. 1988 model year. The emblem was a little wrecked but I wasn't sure when this opportunity would come up again, so I jumped at it.

It's an OEM decal alright.

So, with this seller stating that this tail light was from an EF7-1010xxx chassis car, that means it's from a 1988 model year car... just like the Collection Hall CR-X. (Early production model year 88 CR-Xs were manufactured beginning in September 1987) 

The final nail in the coffin of doubt came about a month later when another, better sample came up for sale and I bought it as well. 

1988 Honda CR-X Garnish -- Note the CR-X is a decal, not an emblem as it is on 89 and newer models

So... Not *all* JDM CR-X tail lights came equipped with the raised emblem spelling out CR-X. Very interesting.

Remember, this blog was written in chronological order so, you will need to click OLDER POSTS to move forward in time, and click NEWER POSTS to go backwards.